Case report published in the January 25, 2011, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The report involved one man who received a deep brain stimulator to treat his pain from central pain syndrome that developed after a stroke. Deep brain stimulation uses a surgical implant similar to a cardiac pacemaker to send electrical pulses to the brain.

The 55-year-old man was diagnosed with high blood pressure at the time of the stroke, and his blood pressure remained high even though he wastaking four drugs to control it.

While the electrical stimulation did not permanently alleviate his pain, researchers were surprised to see that stimulation decreased his blood pressure enough that he could stop taking all of the blood pressure drugs.